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1. Have Fun

This is the most basic and easiest way to reduce your stress level. It sounds simple, but many people don’t practice it enough. To me, this means spending time with my kids, cooking, climbing mountains, talking with my wife, or even biohacking. I’ll cover this more later in the series, but for new realize that it’s common for adults to forget to spend time having fun. Family and career considerations – and the ever-present email waiting for replies – can suck the fun out of life. It’s your job to schedule fun time the same way you schedule meetings.

2. Synchronize Your Heart & Brain with Heart Math

This is my “Honda daily driver” of brain upgrades. There are more expensive, sexier ways to hack your stress, but nothing comes close the the Heart Math technology when it comes to reliably training your heart and brain to work together. A healthy, relaxed person has high heart rate variability (HRV) which means that amount of time between each heart beat is different with each beat. Low heart rate variability is a sign of intense stress. When your sympathetic nervous system is under stress, your body will release stress hormones, and your heart develops an inflexible unchanging beat. This state is correlated with a host of diseases and even overall mortality from all causes.

The emWave2 is a device smaller than an iPhone which uses infrared sensors to calculate your HRV. When you have low HRV, a red light appears. Your job is to do everything possible to make the light turn green while following the device’s guidance, which steers you to breathe in and out every five seconds. You can also listen to music to help, meditate (See #3), or do anything else you can think of that doesn’t make you move around a lot. Spending at least ten minutes every day working with your heart rate variability is transformative. Doing it before bed can fix sleep problems, and it can help with emotional eating, daily stress, and even physical performance. This technology changed my life and career. It is simple to do and everyone I’ve ever known who did it for a month had huge positive changes in the way they felt and the way they treated others simply because they learned to consciously control their fight or flight responses. This stuff belongs in every school.

3. Meditation

The goal of meditation is to become more mindful, be more directive and choiceful with your attention and responsive (not reactive) to your thoughts. Meditation allows you to identify, observe, and master your emotions. Instead of blindly reacting to outside stimuli, you can optimize your thought process and react as you see fit.

You can reduce the amount of stress you experience through mindfulness of your thoughts and feelings. At the same time, you become better able to cope with the stress you still face. When you learn to meditate right (hint: Heart Math is a head start), the stressful voices in your head start to silence themselves.

In fact, mine are gone. There is silence when I want it, available on demand, at any time. No songs stuck in my head, no critical voices from my past, no worrying. Just me.

4. Pranayama Yoga

“When the Breath wanders, the mind is unsteady, but when the Breath is still, so is the mind still.”

– Hatha Yoga Pradipika

You need to learn how to breathe. Most people suck in air using the intercostal muscles of their chest. The right way to breathe is with your diaphragm, also known as belly breathing. This kind of breathing helps you relax and control your heart rate.

The best way to describe this type of breathing is to describe Pranayama Yoga.

Pranayama is the art of Yoga breathing. One of the five aspects of yoga is breath control. According to pranayama yoga, there are three kinds of breathing:

High Breathing.

This is also known as clavicular, or collarbone breathing. This means you are breathing primarily with the upper chest and lungs. High breathing is shallow and inefficient, since a large amount of oxygen fails to reach the lower lung. This is the worst form of breathing, and it is the one you revert to when stressed or angry.

Low Breathing

This is the best possible form of breathing. It utilizes your lower abdomen and diaphragm to pull air in and out of your lungs. To practice low breathing, breathe into your stomach as you suck air through your nose, and your stomach will compress first on your exhale, following the breath up. Your chest and shoulder blades will not move much – only your stomach.

Middle Breathing

As you might expect, this is somewhere in between high and low breathing. It’s “better” than the former, but not as good as the latter.

There are four phases of proper breathing.

1. Inhale (Puraka in yoga-speak)

This should be a continuous, long breath.

2. Pause & hold (Abhyantara Kumbhaka)

This is a pause before exhaling. You should not move any muscle during this process.

3. Exhale (Rechaka)

This should be a controlled, relaxed, continuous exhale.

4. Pause After Exhaling (Bahya Kumbhaka)

This is just like the first pause and starts the cycle over again.

Controlled breathing is a great first step to mastering stress. Even a few minutes a day, done for 2 weeks, can have amazing effects. Add it to your morning routine and see what happens.

You can use this technique any time you experience discomfort or tension. Instead of kicking a trash can or thinking dark thoughts about that screaming baby in the airport when your flight gets delayed, take a few slow deep breaths and put your focus only on what it is like to breathe. You’ll feel better – I guarantee it.

Breathe in to the diaphragm through the back of the throat for 4 seconds

Hold for 4 seconds

Breathe out slowly through the back of the throat for 6 seconds

Hold empty breath for 2 or more seconds

At first, it is common to feel like you’re going to die when you hold your lungs without air in them for even a second or two. Your brain rewires itself to be calmer when you practice slow breathing.

5. Art of Living

The Art of Living Foundation is a global resource for people trying to reduce stress. Their key principle is that “Unless we have a stress-free mind and a violence-free society, we cannot achieve world peace.” It was founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a spiritual leader who in 2010, was named the fifth most influential person in India by Forbes Magazine.

Their introductory course is focused on simple breathing exercises to give you “more energy to handle the stress of daily life.” There are workshops all around in the world where Art of Living practitioners work with you to perfect your breathing. If you are interested in trying the course, click here.

It’s a simple, repeatable method used by 25 million people worldwide to reduce stress, including severe stress like that found in war survivors. It works, and it is not a cult or a religion in any way, or I wouldn’t recommend it.

5 Steps To Hack Your Hangover

Step 1 (optional): Choose the alcohol that will cause the least hangover problems.

There are tons of types of alcohol but the most common ones are represented here. What you choose can make a huge difference in how you feel the next morning. Some alcohols have a lot more toxic byproducts from fermentation than others. They are, in order from best to worst: Vodka, gin, tequila, whiskey, other distilled spirits, dry cider, dry champagne, dry white wine, white wines, red wines, dessert wines, beer.

Tragically, beer has the most toxins of any common alcoholic beverage…

Step 2: Hydrate heavily by drinking a glass of water for every serving of alcohol you consume – ideally at the same time or right after.

Before you can eliminate toxins, your body dilutes them with water so they don’t harm you on the way out. The water either comes from your tissues or water you drink – so drink water.

Step 3:(critical)Block the conversion of alcohol into aldehyde, the most hangover-causing metabolite that also causes very fast aging, wrinkles, etc.

Good: Add Vitamin B-1 and/or Alpha Lipoic Acid and/or N-Acetyl Cysteine before each drink, or at least before your first and after your last drink. Those links have the correct dosages and are low cost per drink (I recommend those ones for fastest absorption.)

Step 5: Mop Up What’s Left.

Take 4 capsules of Activated Charcoal after you’re done drinking (or if you chose beer or wine, take 1 capsule with each drink).

What is It, How It Works, and What It is Used For

You make activated charcoal by burning a source of carbon such as wood, debris, or better yet, coconut shells. The high temperature removes all the oxygen and activates it with gases like steam. What is produced is a highly adsorbent material with millions of tiny pores that capture, bind, and remove poisons, heavy metals, chemicals, and intestinal gases which have thousands of times more weight than the charcoal itself. The porous surface has a negative electric charge that attracts positively charged unwanted toxins and gas. Toxicology studies show activated charcoal to be harmless to human health.

General detoxification – Toxins from low quality, processed food, and environmental pollution are real problems. It is important to help your body eliminate them to promote a healthy digestive system and brain. Chronic exposure to toxins produces cellular damage, allergic reactions, compromised immunity, and more rapid aging. Regular use of activated charcoal can remove unwanted toxins from your body, leaving you feeling renewed and more vibrant, often in minutes! Gut toxins quickly become brain toxins if you don’t eliminate them. Whether or not you are feeling under the weather, activated charcoal helps unwanted bacteria move through your system faster before they spread and multiply, helping you feel better faster.

Relieve digestive issues, gas, and bloating – After digesting foods like beans, the decomposition process from bacteria in your body creates byproducts like gas or diarrhea. Activated charcoal enters the digestive tract and counteracts this process by binding to byproducts and alleviating these digestive issues.

Antidote for drugs, chemicals, and poisons – Charcoal is an age-old remedy for counteracting poison in the body. If you ingest poisons such as bleach, fertilizer, or even alcohol, taking a single large dose of activated charcoal helps your body flush out the poison faster. Activated charcoal adsorbs most organic chemicals, many inorganic chemicals, drugs, pesticides, mercury, and even lead, before they harm your body. If you’re poisoned, go to the emergency room! But, there’s no reason you shouldn’t start binding a poison right away.

Rid bad breath, body odor, and skin ailments – Activated charcoal is often used in body detox products and skin products that help relieve insect stings, mushroom poisoning, poison ivy, cholera, bites, and inflammation. Body odor and bad breath is usually a result of toxins leaving the body, which is why taking activated charcoal greatly helps rid bad breath and body odor.

Anti-Aging properties – Studies show activated charcoal prevents many cellular changes associated with aging, adrenal gland, and kidney function. Famous Gerontologists discovered its powerful anti-aging properties in a study showing activated charcoal to increase the average lifespan of older test animals by approximately 34 percent. Activated charcoal slows the rate at which the brain becomes increasingly sensitive to toxins as you age, which makes for better cognitive functioning. It also builds a better defense mechanism by improving the adaptive functioning of essential organs like the liver, kidneys, and adrenals.

Better heart health – Activated charcoal helps lower the amount of total lipids, cholesterol, and triglycerides in your blood, liver, heart, and brain. In a study where patients with high cholesterol took grams of activated charcoal, three times a day, patients showed a 25% reduction in total cholesterol and doubled their HDL/LDL cholesterol ratio Studies examining microscopic tissues show a daily dose of activated charcoal helps prevent abnormal hardening (sclerosis) in heart and coronary blood vessels.

How to Use It to Detox Your Body and Feel Noticeably Better

Because activated coconut charcoal is mainly used to remove toxins from the body, it is great to use for the following purposes:

Take it when you eat out at restaurants or eat low quality foods like processed junk foods

Take it with bad coffee – it won’t fix the problem, but it helps

It is particularly helpful to take when drinking alcohol

Take it if you suddenly feel moody or tired

Opening a capsule on your toothbrush does amazing things for stained teeth

Use during pregnancy to bind toxins

Helpful for jet lag

Taking activated coconut charcoal on a daily basis is a great way to help you thrive in an overly toxin-filled environment. It is best to take it between meals and a few hours after using any vitamin or mineral supplements, as it may interfere with the absorption of these into your body. Be sure to take it away from prescription, which won’t enter your body when they bind to charcoal.

Chemotherapy has a well-known side effect referred to as “chemo fog” or “chemo brain.”

Substance abuse of any kind can lead to feeling mentally frazzled.

Sometimes brain fog symptoms are due to a more serious condition such as mercury poisoning, hormonal imbalance, depression, fibromyalgia, thyroid conditions (both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism) or Lyme disease.

Losing mental clarity is often considered a “normal” side effect of aging, but that doesn’t mean it is an inevitable consequence of growing older.

Brain Fog Cause #1 — When Food Is the Problem

One major cause of brain fog could be the food you eat.

EAT REAL FOOD.

Those 3 words will take you a long way towards eating the best diet for your brain (and overall health).

If it comes in a box or package it’s not “real” — it’s processed. Even if it’s from the “health food” store.

That includes products made from flour (even if it’s whole wheat) or that contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

1. Challenge Your Brain

Before you get into the fancy techniques, focus on challenging your mind in new ways every day. Take a new route to work, learn a new language, read a challenging book, or start a new project. Most entrepreneurs don’t have a problem with this, but many people go through their day without any kind of mental stimulation. Studies have shown that people who continually challenge their brains with even the smallest tasks live longer and retain their brain function until the very end. Keep your curiosity engaged and ask yourself, “why?” in exactly the way a 3 year old would.

2. Dual N-Back Training

Now we’re getting into the cool stuff.

This software program consists of 20 minute computer lessons designed to challenge every part of your brain necessary to boost your IQ. Dual N-Back Training was the focus of our article titled “How To Add 2.75 IQ Points Per Hour of Training.” A person I coach increased his IQ 18 points, and I increased mine 12 points with this method alone. Considering all the other techniques I’ve used over the years prior to Dual N-Back training, that’s a massive increase.

Dual N-Back Training improves memory, problem solving, imagination, and REM sleep. There are some open source versions of Dual N-Back Training such as Brain Workshop that you can download for free.

It takes about a month of daily exercise. Your brain won’t like it at first – you will get bored and frustrated and probably have strange dreams. But when you’re done, you won’t know how you functioned with only half the working memory you just gained. It’s that strong, like a RAM upgrade for your brain.

3. Nutraceuticals

These are nutrients that have a specific medicinal or pharmacological effect. Nutraceuticals are usually compounds made by the body or plant based. They’re more natural than other drugs and are good for beginners who are apprehensive at the thought of taking a “drug.”

These are all effective brain enhancers that can be purchased for relatively cheap.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine

Acetyle-L-carnitine (ALC) crosses the blood-brain barrier where it acts as a powerful antioxidant. It acts on both acetylcholine and dopamine function. ALC is neuroprotective and works as a powerful cognitive enhancer. While most studies have been done on rodents, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest it’s effectiveness in humans. Some other interesting benefits are better sperm motility and as a treatment for heart dysfunction. It supercharges your mitochondria which helps your entire system, not just your body.

Krill Oil (EPA/DHA)

I discussed the omega-3’s back in Step 2, so I won’t go into great detail here. These two omega-3 fatty acids are essential for proper brain function and development. They can improve memory, executive thought processes, and are neuroprotective. However, the need for these fats is low, about 350mg a day if you have an optimal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats from your diet. It’s important to supplement especially if you eat omega-6 oils (nuts and seed oils). I prefer krill oil to fish oil.

MCT oil turns on your body’s fat burning mode and helps your brain to run more efficiently. It is one of my favorite ways to have more energy, both in my brain and my body. A physician, Dr. Mary Newport, recently used MCT from coconut oil to reverse her husband’s early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Listen to the podcast or read the transcript for free here. When you start using MCT oil, start slowly to allow your body to get used to this much energy this quickly.

Coffee isn’t just caffeine, but caffeine by itself can give you a massive boost in brain power. Caffeine can improve short term memory, alertness, and cognitive function.

A good dose is around 20mg per hour. If you’re taking a big test, you can take one large hit. Studies have shown caffeine can be almost as effective as Modafinil, another supplement I’m about to tell you about. A cup of coffee supplies 95-200 mg of caffeine. Studies have shown caffeine mainly improves your ability to perform less demanding work like simple math problems and organization, may improve mood and has little effect on things like systems thinking and other complicated stuff.

However, if you brew them properly, Upgraded Coffee beans contains two potent brain anti-inflammatory agents, cafestrol and kawehol, which can boost cognitive performance differently than caffeine, especially if you have inflammation in your body. Most coffee has a chemical residue left over from the fermentation process, and this residue (called mycotoxin) has a negative impact on brain function.

Prepared with butter and MCT, Bulletproof Coffee is my favorite adaptogenic herb and my top rated smart “nutraceutical.” I literally have this every day.

4. Smart Drugs (nootropics)

Aniracetam

Nootropics from the “racetam” family are some of the most trusted and widely used. I rely on Aniracetam because it’s fat soluble, fastest acting, and has effects on memory I/O, creativity, and stress. The “racetam” family of nootropics is known for improving mitochondrial function and oxygen in the brain.

Most of the research has been done on people with neurological problems (with amazing results), but there is plenty of good evidence to support it’s use in healthy individuals. A double blind placebo controlled trial showed the oldest racetam, piracetam, improved verbal memory in healthy college students.

I’ve used piracetam and aniracetam for years, but I like the next smart drug even more.

Modafinil (Provigil)

This is one of the smart drugs closest to my heart, err, brain. I’ve used this for years for everything from studying at Wharton to working on a start-up that sold for $600 million dollars. I’ve recommended it to countless friends with massive results, and you may have seen me on ABC Nightline or CNN talking about using it for executive performance. Modafinil improves memory and mood, reduces impulsive decision making, increases your resistance to fatigue, and even improves brain function during sleep debt. I’m more inclined to believe people suffer from Modafinil deficiency, rather than it being a supplement. It doesn’t work for everyone, but if it works for you, you’ll love it.

Huperzine A

Huperzine A is an alkaloid found in the plant moss Huperzia serrota. This plant has been used medicinally for headaches, swelling, fever, and blood disorders by the Chinese for centuries. It enhances memory, increases nerve growth, and protects against Alzheimer’s. It also increases REM sleep. But beware; it raises acetylcholine levels, which is helpful in 2/3 of people, but harmful in those who are choline dominant (like me). Watch out for a clenching jaw or headaches – if you get those, stop taking it, and double up on Aniracetam until the symptoms go away. (the racetams lower choline, which is a good thing if you have too much!)

Upgraded Aging

Upgraded Aging Formula contains stabilized oxaloacetate, which is a part of the kreb’s cycle that powers your cells’ energy production. It has hugely positive effects on blood sugar control and mimics caloric restriction, but the real win for your brain is that it protects brain cells from excess glutamate. High levels of glutamate are neurodestructive – and you get some every time you eat restaurant food, because restaurants hide MSG in lots of dishes (legally) because people who eat MSG almost always order more drinks and dessert to counteract the blood sugar plunge from the MSG. Sneaky but legal. Upgraded Aging has other metabolic effects around blood sugar too.

5. Sleep

Improving your sleep is one of the best ways to boost your brain power. Without enough REM sleep, you increase neurodegeneration and decrease your ability to perform on a day to day basis.

6. Creatine

Just when you thought the only similarity between body builders and nerds was their secret obsession with World of Warcraft – it turns out they also take some of the same supplements. Creatine helps you lift more weight, both mentally and physically. Your brain uses creatine to perform synapses, and studies have shown that it improves your brain function, especially in vegetarians who are almost guaranteed to be creatine deficient. The study referenced above used 5 grams per day, which is a good starting place for improving brain function.

Increasing your brain power is not just something for executives and nerds – it’s for anyone with a brain. Imagine if you almost never forgot things. Imagine managing more tasks than you ever dreamed possible without feeling stressed or overwhelmed. No more forgetting where you put your keys or leaving behind papers for work.

Why Fat Helps You Absorb More Nutrients

Blending nutrients into your coffee (or really any beverage) with healthy fats is classical biohacking pure and simple. You’re taking something healthy and wrapping it in small drops of fat (created during blending) called micelles, which increase the absorption of the nutrients. This principle is what helps antioxidants in vegetables absorb better when consumed alongside some fat. We’re talking lipid droplet chemistry here, and you can feel the difference (plus get some awesome flavor combinations).

Without further ado, here are the top 15 Bulletproof Coffee hacks (and a bonus #16 hack too!):

1. L-Theanine

L-Theanine (100 mg) is a popular supplement that works synergistically with caffeine. It’s an amino acid naturally found in tea that increases alpha brain waves. It has been shown to mitigate negative effects from caffeine, including damaged sleep quality and anxiety, while boosting the positive effects. You can also take it in a capsule in the morning along with your coffee.[i] But why not blend it in? It won’t change the taste, but it changes how you feel.

2. Turmeric

Turmeric is the popular yellow spice used mainly in Indian cuisine. Turmeric contains a powerful compound called curcumin, which has profound anti-inflammatory effects and is a strong antioxidant. Adding it to your coffee will boost the total amount of antioxidants, but will diminish the coffee flavor.[ii] If you don’t like coffee, but want to drink it for the antioxidant polyphenols, turmeric erases the coffee taste. Turmeric doesn’t absorb well without fat anyway.

3. Ginger

Ginger is rich in gingerols, and has been used for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-nausea effects. Like turmeric, ginger will diminish some of the coffee flavor.[iii] Mix this stuff with turmeric, and you’ll taste NO coffee (but what kind of masochist would do that???), and get a powerful anti-inflammatory herbal blend.

4. Grape Seed Extract

Grape Seed Extract has an astringent, tannin flavor that’s not bitter (depending on the brand). It also has positive effects with blood cholesterol and inflammation.[iv] A pure grape seed extract can add amazing flavor notes to coffee.

5. Upgraded Collagen

Upgraded Collagen is a great addition to Bulletproof Coffee as less inflammatory protein source high in the amino acid glycine. It aids healthy tissue repair while maintaining healthy levels of inflammation and revitalizing your skin.[v] It also stands up well to the heat of coffee, which is not true of quality whey protein.